Mickie James Talks Facing Velvet Sky On Impact, Watching Bad Wrestling, Her Music Career, More

TNA Knockout Mickie James joined TJRWrestling Radio to talk about her country music career, her wrestling career and her Knockout Title match against Velvet Sky this Thursday on TNA Impact Wrestling. Here are some comments from the interview.

On her new country album "Somebody's Gonna Pay" that was released on May 7th: "It took about a year to complete this album. I'm grateful that it did because we really took our time with it. We had a chance to make it right, make it really flow and make it a reflection of who I am. We had some of the best musicians in the world in the studio in Nashville - at least I felt like it - they were incredible. Hopefully people can connect with the album and love it. If they don't then that's okay too."

On the upcoming CMA Fest in Nashville: "I get in town on June 4th and leave on the 9th. I'm performing on the Hard Rock stage outside on the 7th in the afternoon. I've done it before and had a blast. I'm also doing something at the kickoff party and something on the Saturday night as well. There will be other shows that I will be a part of too. There's live music all over the place and Broadway Street is shut down. You never know who you might see performing in a bar. It's so much fun. Come out and have a great time if you're in Nashville that week."

On her next challenge in wrestling: "Continuing to raise the bar for myself, to have better matches and do stuff that is fresh in terms of storylines. I think you want to be able to be a part of a story that takes the fans on an emotional roller coaster ride. That's what made my storyline with Trish Stratus (at WrestleMania 22) so special because once you reach that point people are so enveloped in the storyline itself. It just worked. It's really hard to get that kind of moment without that beautiful story behind it."

On the differences of a heel and a babyface: "It's been so long since I've been a heel (2006) that it's really hard to judge. You can have a lot of fun playing a bad girl. You do get a chance to say a lot of things that you can't when you're a face. It's a completely different kind of character. The babyface character is kind of close who I am in real life except the volume is turned up all the way. As a heel you get to make twists and turns that really sell that character so that you can get that genuine kind of heat from people that want to hate you. I really think that some of the best heels are also those people that can really get reactions as babyfaces too. As a babyface you often think about what a heel might do to react to you too so that when you finally turn heel you visualize all that stuff."

On her match against Velvet Sky for the Knockouts Title this Thursday on TNA Impact Wrestling: "Because we've been partners and worked together so much in the past I feel like we know each other's stuff so well. It won't be one of my easiest matches. I'm really hoping she feels up to par to go out there to wrestle because she has a knee injury and she was given the ringpost figure four by Gail Kim last week too."

On growing up as a fan of the wresting business and helping others: "I grew up as a wrestling fan. It kills me to watch bad wrestling; I can't do it. I want to be the best and I watch matches because I want to see what other people are doing to see what's new and fresh. You have to keep up with what's hot. If at any point I can help somebody along the way and maybe try to keep them from making the same mistakes that I made along the way. I think that's a cool thing because I had people do that for me."

You can listen to the full one hour discussion on TJRWrestling Radio for more on her careers in wrestling and music at around the 30:00 mark. You can order Mickie James' new CD "Somebody's Gonna Pay" at MickieJames.com or on iTunes.